Goggles or No Goggles?

When learning to swim, I am often asked the question: goggles or no goggles?For safety reasons, it is necessary that children can open their eyes underwater without the aid of goggles because in the event that a child accidentally falls into a pool, it is likely that they will not be wearing their caps, goggles and togs.

However, when a tentative child refuses (for some time) to submerge their eyes, goggles can be useful to encourage these children to “have a go”. There is evidence that children can become goggle “dependant” and therefore panic when asked to swim without goggles. However this can be easily overcome by ensuring there is a balanced approach and the child practices all skills with and without goggles until they no longer need them. It is equally as important for children to practice without caps and to wear clothes in the water to imitate falling in and swimming back to the side without panic. Initially, movement through the water is about survival and the closer the lessons can emulate this, the better. For your interest, this time last year, schools in the United Kingdom were reported to have a no-goggles policy. The reason was not for water safety but because of the risk of collision due to lowered peripheral vision and the potential injury caused by snapping straps…what will they think of next?

Sue Ward has been teaching kids to swim for almost 2O years and holds degrees in Human Movement Studies and Teaching Physical Education and Primary Classroom.